The Future of Consumerist

Over the last twelve years, Consumerist has been a steadfast proponent and voice on behalf of consumers, from exposing shady practices by secretive cable companies to pushing for action against dodgy payday lenders. Now, we’re joining forces with Consumer Reports, our parent organization, to cultivate the next generation of consumer advocacy.

Stay tuned as Consumerist’s current and future content finds its home as a part of the Consumer Reports brand. In the meantime, you can access existing Consumerist content below, and we encourage you to visit Consumer Reports to read the latest consumer news.

“My girlfriend Lindsey recently purchased a brand-spanking new Toyota Yaris, which she affectionately refers to as “Yar-i.” This car was a much needed sigh of relief after a string of terrible lemon cars for her. This thing was her pride and joy. Along with buying the car, she signed up for MetLife car insurance for $900 to cover herself for about 9 months.

Fast forward to May and Lindsey receives a nice letter in the mail from MetLife stating that because of a “Policy Change” she would have to pay an additional $70 dollars. She was a little confused because the guy at the dealership said she wouldn’t have to spend an extra penny until after the 9 months. The same day, she called MetLife and the guy on the other line said that he’d “take care of it.” Problem solved? Yeah right….”

A month later, she gets another notice, this time for $95. So this time she goes back to the dealership, to the guy that originally sold her the insurance. He gets on the phone with the same guy that “took care of it” last time and says it was a big misunderstanding but he’ll take off the charges.

The next month, she gets another bill stating that show now owes $70. After getting this in the mail, we promptly headed over to the dealership and talked to the guy that sold her the original insurance. He appeared to be as surprised as we were at the mysterious charge on the statement. After a brief phone call to the same guy, Lindsey is assured that its all taken care of. End of story? nooo…

Lindsey gets another notice in the mail stating that if she didn’t pay this charge, her account would be dropped. So with the prospect of not being insured, she gets on the phone with MetLife again. (Has anyone ever mentioned how long it takes to talk to someone on the phone there??) So she proceeds to talk to Ted and explain the situation, he says that the charge was from a previous insurer’s discount and it would be taken off and she would be “squared away.” Not his exact words.

According to Murphy’s Law (as well as Consumerist Law), if something could possibly go wrong, it most likely will go wrong. Like…a car accident…

Over the past 3 months that I’ve been living with Lindsey, she has also let me drive her car when I I’ve needed it. Since this is a temporary living situation, she did not consider to cover me on her insurance. Bad move number one. Then, I got in a minor side swipe accident. The damage was more severe on my car, than hers, but I took full responsibility. The swipe left a nice 8″ red streak on her suv and a small dent on Lindsey’s red Yaris.

Now heres the kicker, after contacting MetLife to get a quote for the damage, they said that they normally would be able to cover her and the suv’s damage, but since they dropped Lindsey for a week after she didn’t pay the bill, they wouldn’t be able to. The best they could offer was that they would be able to put her back on her policy in a couple days, which wouldn’t cover any previous damages.

Now the owner of the suv is demanding $1000 for the supposed damage (the red streak) and we don’t have an insurance company to get an honest quote on the damages.

Great, thanks a lot MetLife. All Lindsey got for her $900 was a false sense of security. What good is insurance if they conveniently drop your coverage during an accident??

Sorry the story is so long. Thanks for all your help in the past.

Sincerely,
Jeremy

We’re not sure what the official name is but you shouldn’t be responsible for 5 or so computer errors. We suggest hiring a lawyer to write a nice scary letter to MetLife. They’re not going to take you seriously otherwise. Findlegalhelp.org offers a good state-by-state lawyer lookup service, or you can call your local bar association and ask for recommendations. Then cc your complaints to your State Department of Insurance, the BBB and the AG’s office. Metlife’s mascot is Snoopy, go Red Baron on their asses.